Not Afraid
by ohmytheon
Summary: Bakugou does not want to play this stupid game. Spin the bottle? What the hell is that? Everyone is dumb. And he definitely doesn't want to kiss freaking Uraraka when the bottle lands on him. (But he doesn't want Deku to do it either.)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** This got way insanely larger than I planned, but I kept thinking about this last night after reading a boat load of Kacchako and lost all sense of self-control. I wasn't even planning on shipping them, but then I came across some fanart and it hit me like a truck. Anyways, this is really dumb and basically is just an excuse for me to torture Bakugou with some proper teenage humiliation. Because that is hilarious and I love it when Bakugou loses his shit when we all know that he's most likely embarrassed and angry about it. I swear, I hinted at every single ship there is in this show. That's the beauty about it. I pretty much ship everything, even contradicting ships, so I'm happy with basically everything. I have NOT read the manga (even though I know some things), so consider this anime-compliant only. And add like two years. Whatevs. Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

* * *

Bakugou wasn't playing this stupid game. He didn't care what everyone else said. He wasn't playing it. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't even associating with these idiots right now. They were in his space and he was letting them until he was tired of them. Why anyone in their right mind thought that this would be fun or was a good idea was beyond him, but he wasn't one of them.

He had been busy studying in the common room area. If he was going to stay in the top three and eventually surpass All Might in being the number one hero, he didn't have time to mess around. Not like these other buffoons that were goofing off. For once, the area had been empty, save for Uraraka, who was trying to engulf an absurdly large bowl of noodles and read at the same time. She was kind of being loud, slurping and munching, and he would have told her off, but she did seem concentrated on reading and he didn't feel like the effort was worth it.

And then without warning everyone had spilled into the room, causing a complete ruckus. They were laughing and talking loudly and shoving each other playfully. It grated on Bakugou's nerves, making him cringe and grip his textbook even tighter. He didn't like reading in front of everyone. Not that he cared about his image or anything; he just liked to do some things in private.

However, before he could get up and go to the safety or his room, Kirishima, the spikey-haired bastard, leaped over the couch, plopping down on the couch, and threw an arm around Bakugou's shoulders. "There you are! I was looking for you."

"Get the fuck off me!" Bakugou shrugged out of Kirishima's grip, glaring daggers at him, which he didn't seem to notice at all. "I was busy."

Kirishima reached to grab the book out of Bakugou's hand, but Bakugou jerked his hand out of reach. "Aw, you're studying. You really do care about school."

Bakugou snarled and clenched his free hand into a fist, small explosions of fire bursting around it. At one time, that would have scared anyone, even Kirishima, who he got along with okay nowadays, but now it only made the other boy laugh. It pissed Bakugou off even more. Why did no one take him seriously anymore? He was really going to have to do something about that and soon.

"Whatever," Bakugou grumbled. Not yet. Later he'd do something about it. Right now, he just wanted to get away from all these annoying loud mouths and their stupid grins as they crowded around him. What were they doing? Kaminari squeezed in on Bakugou's other side, leaving him practically no room. "What the hell, guys?"

"Let's play a game!' Kaminari declared.

Ashido jumped on the ottoman and wiggled her fingers in excitement. "Oh, what kind of game?"

The grin on Kaminari's face spoke of a mischievous trouble that Bakugou wanted absolutely no part of. "How about spin the bottle?"

His suggestion sent everyone into a different frenzy. The boys were much more enthusiastic than the girls, but they didn't seem too horrified by the idea for once. After spending two years with each other, they were all bound to get close (with the exception of Bakugou, because he did _not_ need to get close to _anyone_ ). Their hormones were probably all out of whack. The only issue that Bakugou had had upon hitting puberty was that he ran hot and sweat a lot more, which was actually a bonus considering it helped out his quirk and made him stronger. He didn't have any problems with anything else.

(If Deku so much as breathed a word about the few months when Bakugou's voice had started to change and crack, Bakugou swore that he'd strangle the idiot with his bare hands.)

After a brief, slightly heated conversation amongst themselves, all the girls turned to Yaoyorozu, who took a deep breath with her eyes closed and then opened them to say, "We're in."

Kaminari was so excited next to Bakugou that he was almost certain the kid was going to accidentally electrocute him and then short circuit himself.

However, once the boys realized that the girls had actually agreed to playing the dumb game, they became hesitant. Half-in-Half Bastard hung in the background, looking about as confused as his hair, like he wanted to both run away and sit down. Deku's dumb face had turned red, making him look even more stupid. Shoji was already shaking his head. Did he have a mouth under his mask or would he have to make lips from one of his arms? Ugh, that was gross.

"As class president, I should not partake in this," Iida proclaimed as he stood up.

"Oh, sit down, you big dummy," Hagakure laughed from her spot in front of Ashido. How was anyone supposed to kiss her anyways? No one would be able to find her lips.

Chastised, Iida lowered himself back down on his chair. He couldn't hide his emotions if he tried, looking like he'd rather face a villain than this game. Only Tokoyami and Koda were missing. They must not have been hanging out with the rest of them at the school pool. Whether they wanted to play or not, everyone seemed stuck in their spots, unsure about what to do.

"Well, I'm not playing this stupid game," Bakugou announced, shoving Kirishima and Kaminari so that he had room to stand up.

"Why not?" Ashido asked.

"Because it's stupid," Bakugou said firmly.

Kirishima smirked. "It's because he's _scared_."

" _What_?" Bakugou exclaimed, rounding on him. "I'm not scared! I'm not scared of anything!"

That only caused the asshole's smirk to broaden. Oh, Kirishima thought he was safe from Bakugou? Well, he had another thing coming. Bakugou was going to shoot off some explosions right next to Kirishima's head when he was sleeping tonight. He'd never feel safe to sleep again. "Yeah, you're scared - probably afraid that he'll have to kiss Midoriya or something."

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Bakugou yelled, his face turning a particular shade of red. "I'd rather eat your smelly ass socks after a workout!" Somewhere behind him, everyone else had started to laugh while Deku sputtered incoherently, so Bakugou turned to point a finger at him. "Shut the fuck up!"

"Wait a minute," Sero piped up nervously. "So if the bottle lands on a guy, we'd have to kiss them?"

Mineta swelled up gallantly as much as he could, but he just looked like a grape. "It will be worth the pain," he told them and then his face turned to a mushy look with a hazy grin, "to see the girls kiss each other!"

The girls groaned and Jiro threw one of her slippers at him, hitting him right in the face, while the boys looked at each other with unease and muttered to one another. Fuck, this was just getting worse and worse. There was no way in hell that Bakugou was going to play. If he had to get even close enough to hug one of these idiots, he'd explode. Todoroki had sunk even further in his seat, his arms folded across his chest, looking like he wanted to disappear. He probably wouldn't last long in this game.

The only one that hadn't said anything was Uraraka, who had drifted over to everyone when they'd come in. She was sitting on the ground next to Yaoyorozu, watching everyone anxiously, fiddling with her fingers in her lap and gnawing on her bottom lip. He supposed that she would be playing like all the other girls. When they accidentally connected eyes, he scowled at her and she blushed, glancing away quickly.

"I'm not playing," Bakugou repeated, turning to walk away.

"Fine then," Kirishima huffed cheekily, "be a coward."

Bakugou stormed towards him, "What the fuck did you just say?"

"I said," Kirishima said, a huge smirk on his face, "be - a - coward."

It took every ounce of Bakugou's strength to not strangle Kirishima on the spot. He'd spent the past two years at U.A. learning a lot more about self-control. He didn't like it - didn't see a need for it - but apparently his temper and penchant for violent reactions was starting to get negative views from the teachers. Once it had started to affect his standing in the school, he'd been forced to attempt to reign himself in. It was stupid and pointless and he hated it. He didn't need to be liked in order to be a hero.

(Yeah, he kind of did - but he was not going to think about it right now.)

Even though this whole idea was fucking idiotic and there were a million other things he'd rather be doing and his face was red and his hands were practically shaking with the need to blow something up, Bakugou forced himself to sit back down, although he shoved hard enough on Kaminari to knock the boy off the couch so that he could have more space. Kaminari only let out a small protesting noise before catching Bakugou's glare and shutting up. He stayed sitting on the floor.

Sato brought a water bottle from the kitchen into the room and set it down in the middle of their circle. Bakugou didn't know whether he was internally cringing from the bottle or Sato's big, ugly lips. If he was the kind of person that gave a shit, he might've felt sorry for anyone that had to kiss that guy. Folding his arms across his chest, Bakugou sank back into the couch and glared at the bottle, as if he could mentally keep it away from him.

"I'll go first since I did come up with the idea," Kaminari stated, as if it was some big sacrifice. It would be if he had to kiss Deku or someone like that. He reached over and spun the bottle. Everyone watched it with bated breath, except for Bakugou, who scoffed and glowered at the ceiling.

The second it stopped, he heard Jiro exclaiming, "You cheated!"

"No way!" Kaminari replied, sounding and looking elated. "Did you see me use my quirk?"

Most of them shook their heads while Jiro huffed. After some encouragement from Hagakure and goading from Mineta, Jiro sighed and scooted towards him. "We did agree to play."

"It can't be that bad," Kaminari said. Jiro didn't look like she agreed, but when she leaned over and-

Nope, Bakugou was not about to watch people actually kiss, especially not his classmates. Fucking disgusting. He turned back to glare at the ceiling, listening to all the boys cheer obnoxiously and some of the girls giggle. It was only a second later when Jiro was back in her spot, grumbling under her breath, while Kaminari wore a dazed look on his face, looking about as idiotic as he did when he overexerted his quirk.

The bottle was spun again, this time by Jiro since it had landed on her last. He heard her sigh of relief and then laugh when it landed on Hagakura. The invisible girl giggled and her clothes flounced over towards Jiro. She puckered up her lips, but no one could really be sure if Hagakura kissed her or not. The two girls laughed with one another as Mineta complained.

This was stupid. He could be studying right now. He could be sleeping. He could be _blowing shit up_.

Bakugou really stopped paying attention after that. By some luck, it never landed on him. He kept watching the ceiling, barely listening to what was going on around him. Frog girl had to kiss Tail guy at some point. Mineta kept griping that the bottle never landed on him. Iida actually kept apologizing when he had to kiss Yaoyorozu, who then kissed Todoroki, which everyone made silly noises about. The room exploded into laughter and panicked noises from Deku when the bottle Todoroki reluctantly spun landed on him.

Fucking hell. That was almost enough to cause Bakugou to puke. He definitely did not look away from the ceiling for that one. No fucking way.

Bakugou was content with never looking and had even considered leaving since no one was paying attention to him when Deku spun the bottle and all the girls began to actually squeal when it came to a stop. Ready to blow the little shit out of the sky if it had landed on him - and he was not going to go along with that - Bakugou finally looked down and saw that the bottle was not pointing at him, but at Uraraka, who was blinking with wide brown eyes at it.

Deku's face was pink as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um, well-"

Uraraka laughed, a hint of nervousness betrayed in it despite the comforting smile on her face. "Stop being so weird!"

She didn't sound like she didn't want to kiss Deku, but then, Bakugou knew damn well that she hid behind that shitty, cheerful persona to hide her feelings. Behind those silly smiles and bright laughs was a seriously tough chick who was way more intense than people realized. Ever since their fight at the first school festival, he had kept an eye on her and watched how fiercely she fought. She stood up and tiptoed over to Deku, that same smile on her face, like she knew that he was nervous but it was okay. She bit her lip again once she was in front of him, her cheeks even more pink than usual.

Deku was so pale that he looked like he was going to die. Maybe he would. That would be a relief. "You don't have to- You know, you can- I mean, it can be on the cheek-"

"You're fine," Uraraka told him in an absurdly soft voice. Bakugou had planned on looking away before anything happened, but then Uraraka was quick, leaning in to kiss Deku on the cheek. It was a few seconds, but Bakugou saw Deku's head turn towards her for a moment.

For some reason, the overwhelming urge to blow the little shit off his chair came over Bakugou and all he could see was red. He was going to throw up. He was going to have nightmares about this moment for the rest of his life. The last thing he had ever wanted to see was someone kissing Deku, even if it was only on the cheek. Gross, gross, fucking gross. What was wrong with everyone here?

Laughter bubbled throughout the room as Uraraka returned to her seat. Deku was bright red and staring into the kitchen as he fidgeted in his seat. All Bakugou could think about was that he almost felt kind of bad for Uraraka for having to kiss him. It couldn't have been good.

And then the laughter suddenly died and the room went silent.

Bakugou looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at him. "What the fuck is your all's problem? It wasn't that funny."

"Um, bro, no…" Kirishima pointed to the middle of the room and Bakugou looked in that direction.

At the bottle.

Which was pointing directly at _him_.

Having been spun by _Uraraka_.

 _ **What the fuck?**_

Kaminara muffled his laughter as best as he could, but it wasn't good enough, so Bakugou kicked him for good measure, causing the only boy to fall flat on his face. Deku looked like he was choking on something. He didn't have to look over to see Kirishima smirking. Both Yaoyorozu and Asui were rubbing Uraraka's back and muttering comforting and encouraging words to her.

Because she needed to be comforted. Because they felt bad for her. Because the bottle had landed on him.

When Uraraka finally raised her eyes and connected with his, Bakugou found himself floundering. He didn't show it on the outside, of course, staying absolutely still, but he still found his heart racing. Not in excitement, not in fear, not anything like that. He just…couldn't read her expression. Uraraka was one of those people that wore her heart on her sleeve and even when she hid it behind those smiles and laughs he could always tell that there was something else underneath it. An intensity, a determination to fight until the bitter end, an ambition, a goal.

He had no fucking clue what those eyes were saying now.

"Fuck this," Bakugou announced, snapping out of it. He stood up from the couch.

"Aw, c'mon, man, don't be a spoilsport," Kirishima whined.

"Yeah, man, just kiss her!" Sero said.

Bakugou shook his head. "No, no fucking way, no. I'm not-"

He made the mistake of glancing at Uraraka again. There was still that unreadable look on her face, but he thought, maybe, there was a hint of embarrassment in her eyes. Like she was embarrassed that it had landed on him or maybe because he didn't want to kiss her. Well, who cared what she thought? He hadn't wanted to play this stupid game and he wasn't going to. He didn't care if she cried about it later. It was fucking pointless.

"Now you're being just rude," Iida said.

"Does it look like I give a fuck?" Bakugou snapped. "I'm not kissing her; I'm not playing this game; I'm out."

Without waiting for anyone else, he snatched up his textbook and stormed out of the room. When he reached the room that he shared with Kirishima, he slammed the door shut behind himself hard enough to rattle the room and cause a picture frame to fall off in the hallway. He didn't care.

He didn't care about that stupid picture or that stupid game or that stupid Uraraka and her stupid dumb face. So what if he upset her? Besides she knew what he was like. She knew that he didn't spare people or their feelings. She'd never gotten mad at him before over it and he'd said some pretty awful shit to her in the past. Maybe not anymore, but still. If she couldn't handle this, then she couldn't be a hero - then she wasn't the girl that he thought she was.

The others should've known better than to try goading him into playing. It had been a bad idea. He shouldn't have let them get to him, but there was no way he could take being called a coward. Now he was pissed for looking more like a coward. When it came time to put up or shut up, he'd ran from her.

No, it didn't count as running. It was just a game. A stupid fucking game. And he hadn't ran from her. It wasn't like he was scared of her. It wasn't like he was scared of kissing her or anything. He just didn't want to. It was pointless.

Unable to control himself, a few explosions smattered around his hands, almost catching his desk on fire, and he threw his textbook across the room. Whatever. He didn't need them; he didn't need anyone. They would all be in his dust after graduation, just like they were now. He'd just hunker down in here and finish his work until everyone else went to bed. If someone so much as breathed a word about what happened, he'd sock them right in the face.

The rest of the night passed slowly. Despite being in his room, he could still hear the laughter and talking from the common room. Because of the closed door, he couldn't tell what was being said (not that he cared or wanted to), but it was just loud enough to be distracting, like a constant murmur in the back of his head. Nonetheless, he pushed through as best as he could, ignoring them and steadily getting more irritated as the night wore on.

He didn't realize when the noise finally changed. It just sort of happened and he noticed that it had gone mostly quiet. There were still people out there, but not nearly as much. The game must have come to an end. For a brief moment, he wondered if Uraraka had been forced to spin the bottle again or if they'd spared her the humiliation and had someone else take their turn - and then he shoved that thought out of his head. Didn't matter.

Bakugou yawned and pushed away from his desk. He wanted to take a shower before bed, get rid of this tension in his shoulders and neck that came from studying. Definitely not anything else. However, after gathering all the things he needed, right when he went to open the door, he heard voices outside in the hallway. He recognized them immediately and scowled. Deku and Uraraka.

"...meant to humiliate you or anything," Deku was saying in that annoyingly gentle tone of his. It made him sound as pathetic as he looked.

"I'm fine, really," Uraraka replied, sounding upbeat. Bakugou knew it was wrong right away. She was a happy person by nature, but she kept it going even when she didn't feel it and he didn't think she was being honest right now. She didn't want to be a burden and Deku acted like he had to save everyone. "He didn't want to play the game. It's okay."

Oh. They were talking about _him_.

Part of Bakugou wanted to kick the door down and yell at them for even mentioning him, but then he held back, his hand still on the doorknob. He didn't want to talk about it. There was no way in hell he was going to talk to Deku of all people about why he left the game so abruptly, even though he knew that Kirishima would pester him later tonight. It was a dumb game! He didn't owe them any explanations!

"I just wanted to make sure," Deku said. "You looked kind of…" Bakugou could just see the green-haired boy looking at her with those anxious eyes of his. It made him sick. "Hurt."

Uraraka laughed and this time Bakugou caught the tension in it immediately. "Well, okay, it was a little awkward. No one else really complained. Even you and Todoroki-" She laughed again, this time for real, and he heard Deku coughing. "Sorry, it was funny." When she sighed, the humor died from her voice and Deku went silent and serious again. "Everyone might have griped at times, but even Ashido kissed Mineta when it landed on him and Bakugou just… He really didn't want to kiss me."

"Kacchan is a private person," Deku said, like he knew anything about Bakugou. It pissed him off, but… It made him even angrier to know that the little shit was right. Bakugou's business was his own. He didn't like it when other people tried to get into his shit. "He was just embarrassed, I think. It's not like he thinks you're ugly or anything- Ah, wait! That was the wrong thing to say! I mean, you're not- You're very-"

"You're fine!" Uraraka told him. "I know what you meant."

Were they fucking flirting out there? Right outside of his room? What the fuck? Bakugou definitely didn't need to hear Deku hitting on Uraraka right now.

"It's just…" Uraraka sighed. "Everyone got kissed and I..."

There was a pause and then Deku: "Have you not had your first kiss yet?"

The silence from Uraraka was deafening. No, she hadn't. After all, she had kissed Deku on the cheek. Bakugou's heart thudded in his chest again. He could not believe that they were having this conversation right here, right now. It was disgusting. If Deku tried to kiss Uraraka right outside his room, Bakugou was going to lose his shit. He didn't need to be out there to know what was going on. He could see the look on Deku's face, silently asking Uraraka if she wanted him to give her her first kiss, and Bakugou almost blew the door down.

No, no, no, this was not happening. Not on his watch. Not on basically his doorstep. No fucking way. He wasn't going to let Deku beat him in anything.

Not even kissing Uraraka.

Bakugou dropped his towel and ripped his door open. The action was so sudden and violent that it caused both Deku and Uraraka to jump, away from each other. They'd been far too close for comfort.

"Kacchan!" Deku exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I thought you were asleep!"

Like that made things okay. The idiot actually looked apologetic, too. Well Bakugou was going to wipe that look right off his face.

Meanwhile, Uraraka just looked surprised, her brown eyes wide, her cheeks infuriatingly pink, her lips parted slightly like she meant to say something but had forgot. Her lips. Bakugou's eyes dropped to them and then back to her face as the worst kind of scowl screwed up on his face. "Bakugou?" she prompted tentatively.

"Hey, Angelface," he snapped.

It all happened without much thinking on his part. One second they were staring each other down, Deku totally forgotten on the side, and the next Bakugou found himself in front of her. He put his hands on her arms, maybe a little too roughly but his whole body was tense, closed his eyes,and pressed his lips against hers. It was too hard and too sudden, but his entire body burned and he was almost certain that his quirk was going to activate itself on accident for the first time in his life.

Uraraka had made a little squeaking sound when he'd grabbed her and her whole body was tight, but then she was ridiculously soft against him and he stopped thinking. He wasn't going to think about it. He was just kissing her to...to prove a point. Because he wasn't going to let Deku do it. Because Bakugou wasn't afraid. He wasn't scared. He wasn't a coward. He wasn't embarrassed.

(And he didn't think Uraraka was ugly. Out of all the girls, she was easily the most attractive in his opinion, not that he would ever say that out loud. She was the only one that had come close to beating him. It was definitely her skill and determination that he found attractive, not her smile or her cheeks or her eyes or her hair or-)

When Bakugou pulled away, Uraraka's eyes were still closed. Slowly, she opened them and stared right back at him as they both breathed heavily. A lot of people were able to meet his gaze these days, but not like this. There was a different kind of intensity in them now. His entire face burned red (who had turned up the heat?) and he felt like he was going to explode, but it wasn't…

It hadn't been bad. Not the best kiss in the world, but not...bad. And it was over with and Deku could fuck right off because Bakugou had showed them both. He'd given Uraraka her first kiss. He'd stepped up. He just didn't want to do it in front of a crowd. It would've been a lot nicer if Deku hadn't been standing right next to them.

Not that he wanted to kiss her again. No way. Not right now. Not like...ever. Not with Deku around or anyone.

"There," Bakugou finally said. "You got your fucking kiss."

He didn't wait for her respond - thank him, yell at him, babble at him in confusion - and he definitely wasn't going to wait for Deku to say anything. Instead, he picked up his things and stomped to the bathroom so that he could take a shower and then go to bed. He refused to think about the look on Uraraka's face after he'd kissed her, how still she had been in his arms, how she hadn't pushed him away but had kind of leaned into him, how soft her lips had been, or how warm her skin was under his fingers as he'd sweat literal explosives on her.

She hadn't pulled away from him. He'd been expecting it, but she hadn't. Pretty much everyone did, maybe with the exception of Kirishima. He couldn't picture anyone not flinching away from him.

Fuck. Bakugou growled underneath the spray of the scalding hot war. No, he wasn't going to think about it.

And Deku better not say shit about this later. Uraraka could confront him later if she felt like it.


	2. Chapter 2

Bakugou woke up to the terrible realization that he had not only kissed Uraraka full on the lips, but that Deku had been there to witness it. Even worse, he hadn't told either one of them to keep it to themselves. Not that it would have probably mattered much in the end, but it would've made them think twice at least. Now he was laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, replaying the scene over and over again in his mind.

He'd kissed Uraraka. Just snapped at her, walked towards her, and pressed his lips against hers.

What the hell had he been thinking? Had he even been thinking?

He racked his brain, trying to come up with some sort of plausible excuse for his actions, but could only come up with the anger rolling through him before he'd thrown open the door. He'd been so… He'd been so mad . And not in the way he was used to. Maybe the only other time he'd felt like this was when he had noticed how much All Might fawned over Deku. But that didn't make any sense.

It hadn't been just annoyance at Deku and Uraraka talking outside his room about kissing. Sure, that had been a part of it, but it hadn't been because they were bothering him by being too loud or obnoxious. It was just...them. It was Deku. It was Uraraka . It was the fact that he knew damn well that Deku wanted to kiss her and had wanted her to kiss him, but he'd been too chicken shit during that stupid spin the bottle game Kaminari had convinced everyone to play last night.

It was that, when presented that same opportunity, Bakugou had ran from it as well and Bakugou Katsuki did not fucking run away from anything , least of all a girl, even if she was one of the strongest people he knew.

Growling irritably, Bakugou rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms and then got out of bed. It was still early enough in the morning where most of his classmates would still be asleep. That was the beauty of the weekend. They could mostly do whatever they wanted, outside of homework, and half the people wasted it away. Granted, he usually slept in a little longer than this, but the second he'd woke up, that look of intensity and confusion on Uraraka's dumb face had popped into his head.

After pulling on a black tank top, Bakugou left his room for the kitchen, thinking about what he could eat, when he came to a sudden halt upon finding out that he wasn't the only one awake and hungry.

Apparently so was Uraraka.

The two of them caught sight of each other at almost the same time, both of them coming to a complete halt. She looked ridiculous, freezing while sticking a bun in her mouth, her eyes widening like she had done something bad. He narrowed his eyes at her, a scowl appearing on his face (because the last person he wanted to see right now, Deku notwithstanding, was her), but said nothing.

Finally, Uraraka bit down on the bun and swallowed. "I know they're Tsuyu's, but they're so good…" She sounded so ashamed of herself, like it was the worst thing in the world for her to have done.

"Whatever." Bakugou didn't care what she did or whose food she ate as long as it wasn't his. He wasn't the sharing type and they all knew it. Plus, he worked on making his food taste delicious; he wasn't about to touch whatever crap everyone else was eating.

Ignoring the twinge in his stomach (because it was clearly from hunger and he was about to eat), Bakugou walked into the kitchen area and pushed past her. Tried not to notice the way she pulled herself closer to the counter so that they wouldn't accidentally touch or the way she smelled like flowers, her hair still a little wet from an early morning shower.

After rummaging around in the fridge, Bakugou found what he was looking for and pulled it out. Even though she had shrank away from him moments ago, Uraraka leaned back to peer at him. "Whatcha got?"

Bakugou pulled his food closer to him, like she might try to snatch it out of his hands since she was clearly a food thief, but then, for some reason, he relaxed just enough so that she could see the open container. It had nothing to do with the curious look on her face or the light in her brown eyes. He didn't care about things like that.

"Ooh, that looks good." Uraraka hummed appreciatively. "Did you prep it yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm not an idiot," Bakugou responded.

Uraraka didn't seem to take it as an insult towards her, despite the fact that he knew she couldn't cook. She simply nodded her head and went to clean her dishes. Silence fell over them, but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable. She was humming some song under her breath while she cleaned and he ate, acting for the world like the world hadn't turned upside down and he had kissed her. A voice in the back of his head told him to ask what song it was, but he squashed it down very viciously.

However, he couldn't stop thinking last night. She was wearing a tank top as well, pink, her arms toned from all the training and working out they did. He'd grabbed those arms last night, felt her muscles tense up underneath his grip, but he hadn't touched her skin, only the material of her light jacket. Her skin looked soft though, especially after having showered, and warm too. Not as much as him though. He ran hot through and through. In fact, the more he thought about it, the hotter his face felt.

"Bakugou?"

He snapped his eyes forward to her face, realizing that he'd been glaring furiously at her hands while eating. Uraraka was looking at him now, her cheeks pinker than normal, and it struck him that she might have been humming to distract herself. From him. So she hadn't forgotten (not likely, it hadn't been a great kiss, but it hadn't been a bad one either) and she hadn't moved on like it was nothing. He caught the way her eyes went to his lips for a second and then fell to his bare feet.

"So, um, not to like be annoying or anything, but, uh, well, you know, well, last night, I mean-"

"Spit it the fuck out," Bakugou snapped, even though his entire stomach was in knots and it definitely wasn't from being hungry.

Uraraka stopped and took a deep breath. He felt like he was going to blow up the bowl in his hands. "Why did you kiss me? I mean, you didn't have to, you know. I get why you didn't during the game. It was silly and you didn't want to play in the first place, so…" She looked him in the eyes again. He had to say something. He needed to say something. Why wasn't he saying anything? "Why?"

There were a lot of things that Bakugou could've said. He could have told her that he'd kissed her because he was tired of hearing her talk and wanted to shut her up. He could have said that he wanted to embarrass her. He could have said that he wanted to show Deku that he was a little shit and that Bakugou would always be first. He even could have said that he wanted to prove to her how dumb she was acting over the whole thing. There were a ton of things he could have said.

But he didn't. He said jack shit. Because he didn't know what to say and he was angry about it, but even then, he couldn't sputter a single frustrated word out.

"I didn't need your...your pity kiss, okay?" Uraraka continued, fire suddenly in her voice. The meek, nervous girl was gone, replaced by the one that he remembered so well from their first Sports Festival. She was so fierce that he barely caught her words. Pity kiss? "I don't need you to feel sorry for me because-because I don't know. Maybe I'm not the prettiest or richest or strongest or-or whatever. I know my worth and I don't need some stupid boy to prove it to me." Her eyes widened slightly. "N-not that I think you're stupid or anything, but, well, I mean… I didn't want my first kiss to be with someone that didn't want to kiss me."

"What if I wanted to kiss you?" Bakugou countered. "Ever fucking think of that?"

And what the fuck did he just say?

Bakugou shut his mouth and clenched his jaw so tightly that his teeth rattled and the plastic container in his hands began to steam. He had to set it aside to keep it from melting all over his hands. The words had come right out of his mouth. He hadn't even considered them. Seeing Uraraka all riled up over some stupid kiss had gotten him riled up and the next thing he knew he was saying something even more stupid.

Uraraka looked equally surprised. She'd stumbled backwards, as if his words had been a physical blow, and stared at him with wide, shocked eyes, her mouth parted slightly. His eyes fell to her lips and then he shook his head and turned away from her. Stupid, stupid.

"I wanted to kiss you," Bakugou continued, each word a struggle, "to shut Deku the fuck up. He's always standing around mooning over you and it's fucking annoying and I knew it would put him in his place."

He didn't look back at her - he wouldn't look at her - and yet he still felt the change in the air, going from charged to deflated. He didn't know what it meant and he didn't want to know.

"Oh." Uraraka swallowed. She didn't sniff and she didn't cry. She didn't yell at him either. He thought he would've preferred it if she had. Where was the fight? But no, she was being reasonable about this while he was losing his goddamn mind. "I was just a means to make Deku feel bad. I…" It was worse than a pity kiss. It was like he'd taken advantage of her, used her for his own purposes, and he told himself that he had, but then it hadn't felt like it at all the second he'd kissed her. The fuck was wrong with him? "Okay."

And that was that.

Bakugou didn't turn to face her when he heard her walk away. He didn't chase after her. He didn't call out her name or reach to grab her or tell her that he was lying. Because all of those things would imply some sort of weakness - that he actually gave a damn - and he couldn't do that. He'd told her the truth. All he'd wanted to do was make Deku feel like a pathetic whelp for not being brave enough to give Uraraka her first kiss. He hadn't wanted Deku to do it.

He hadn't wanted anyone to do it. He'd wanted to do it. He'd wanted to give Uraraka her first kiss. He'd wanted to kiss her even before that shitty bottle had landed on him.

"Fuck," Bakugou growled, picking up ruined container and exploding it so badly that nothing was left of it except for a charred piece of plastic and smoke.

Somewhere in the hallway, Iida's voice called, "No setting fires in the dorms, Bakugou!" and Bakugou almost lost his shit entirely. No doubt Uraraka was in her own room, forcing herself to remain calm and push out whatever upset or negative feelings she might have right now. She faced everything with a cheery attitude and a smile, just like All Might.

Bakugou shoved his fingers into his hair and grabbed it tightly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

What was wrong with him? Why was this whole thing so shitty? He couldn't understand how some stupid game had made a mess of everything. He knew that the next time he saw Uraraka, she would act like nothing was wrong. Hell, she'd probably smile at him, encourage him in class, do whatever bullshit...goodness that she was made of. Meanwhile, the best that he could hope for was that she wouldn't say a word about last night and neither would Deku and he could go on silently torturing himself and getting madder about it.

Why did you kiss me?

Because I wanted to kiss you, okay? Because I've wanted to for a while and I don't know what that means and it pisses me off that you're...you.

Of course he couldn't say something like that. It was terrible. He'd never be able to live it down. It was a sign of weakness that he could not fucking afford if he was going to make it to the top. Even worse, he knew that even if he did tell her that, he would never be able to live it up to her. What could he give her that Deku couldn't? What could Deku give her that he couldn't?

Bakugou hated to think it, but the answer was probably a lot.

He really had fucked up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** The third (and not final) chapter to part one and part two. This was supposed to be the chapter where Bakugou and Uraraka talk it out, but then my boy Deku popped into my head and I was like, "Okay, yeah, this needs to be addressed." I'm always bummed when Deku is sort of pushed to the side and ignored in Kacchako fics when he's clearly important (at least to me and my heart) and also he's actually a big part of this fic. Why can't these kids just get along?

* * *

To be honest, Bakugou was quite fine with forgetting that the whole thing ever happened so he could go on living in peace over the fact that everyone was beneath him. Except it was like his mind couldn't let it go. The memories crept up on him when he least expected it. He was sitting in homeroom, listening to Aizawa drone on, and then the touch of her lips against his would pop up out of nowhere. In the middle of exercising at the gym, the shocked look on her face when he'd said that he had wanted to kiss her slipped into his mind's eye.

The worst was when he was stumbling to his bed, worn down to his bone after pushing himself harder than ever before in their hero class, only to hear her painfully crestfallen voice in his head. _"I was just a means to make Deku feel bad._ " Fuck. No, she wasn't. Yes, she was. No.

Bakugou tugged at his hair in frustration. He wanted her out of his head. He wanted to put this whole thing behind him and forget it ever happened. It was so stupid. He didn't care. He didn't give a shit.

This was her own fault for thinking that he might give a damn. He was certain that she'd gotten that into her head, even though he'd never given any inclination before. That he'd kissed her for a specific reason. That he'd done it because it was her.

It irritated the hell out of him because after three days he'd grudgingly admitted to himself that it was true. He didn't know why and he didn't know what for. But if it had been any other girl outside his door that night, any other girl who spun the bottle, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. He would've walked out and wouldn't have regretted it. He didn't want to kiss any of the other girls in his class. It was just…her. It was that girl with the stupid pink cheeks and smile like sunshine.

He really had thought that it solely had to do with the fact that she was a part of Deku's little group. The feelings weren't as strong as before, but sometimes he still felt like wrecking what Deku had. It was petty and Bakugou was (mostly) mature enough to know that now, so he settled on besting Deku in class and battle. However, somewhere along the line, it had begun to feel like a race. To what end, Bakugou didn't know and Deku didn't seem aware of it.

The past three days had unfortunately taught him a lot. Like that his eyes were drawn to Uraraka whenever she laughed and his ears would catch her voice whether he wanted to or not. How, during their hero training, a faint smirk would appear on his face whenever she did something particularly cool or unique with her quirk. She was getting really good at using it on herself now whenever that had nearly keeled her over before. And it didn't matter if Deku was there or not. She was.

Groaning, Bakugou rubbed at his face. This was a fucking disaster. He hated every second of it.

Even worse, Uraraka had been so damn _pleasant_. They'd had to work in a team of four together for a training exercise two days ago and she hadn't even blinked. There had been no hesitation in her to touch the palm of his hand with hers so that she could send him flying quietly to the fourth level of the building they had to infiltrate. He had been the last of their group, her having already sent up Kaminari and Ojiro, and when they'd connected eyes, the first time since the other morning, she didn't hesitate, only smiled in determination.

Why couldn't she be mad at him? Why couldn't she yell at him? He didn't know why that would make him feel better, but he knew that he would. She shouldn't just take him walking all over her like that. She should rage at him, scream, fight him like she had at their first Sports Festival. Why wouldn't she show some damn spark? None of what she did now felt real. It was like he'd fallen into another plane where he hadn't truly hurt her feelings twice in less than twenty-four hours and only he knew.

It was like none of it had happened. Not even the kiss. And the longer that time passed, the more he realized that he didn't want to forget it.

Right before Bakugou could collapse in bed, there was a knock on his door. Probably Kirishima coming to bother him. Apparently Bakugou had been acting strange lately, according to the red-haired bastard, going from cold to hot in a matter of seconds of little things even worse than normal.

But then, a voice he didn't expect called out, "Kacchan?"

Holy fuck it was _him_.

Bakugou stomped over to the door and ripped it open. "What the hell do you want?"

Deku stared up at him, what could only be described as tremulous determination on his face. He had worn that look for as long as Bakugou had known him, though not as much anymore. It was like his brain was stuck in the middle of fight or flight mode, unable to choose which one to do. Bakugou knew what he should choose: definitely flight, because Bakugou was not in the fucking mood and Deku was the last person he wanted to see right now. Hell, he'd choose a villain at this point over him.

"We need to talk," Deku said, smoothing his lips from a twisted mess to a deep frown. Even his brow was furrowed and he actually looked like he was forcing himself not to clench his fists.

However, Deku's straightforwardness threw Bakugou off guard and somehow Deku was in his room before he had even managed a response. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get out of here!"

Deku folded his arms across his chest and glared back at him with such intensity that Bakugou was almost certain that they were about to have a physical brawl. What was going on? Had everyone lost their damn minds? "Not until we talk."

"I swear I'll fucking kill you," Bakugou grumbled under his breath, but he slammed the door shut and leaned against it, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was pretty sure that if he kept his hands out in the open that he was going to blow Deku out the window. If Deku wanted to storm in here and talk, then fine, but Bakugou was going to make him regret it.

After taking a deep breath, Deku looked him dead in the eyes and said, "You need to apologize to Uraraka."

Bakugou almost choked on his tongue. "Fucking _what_?"

"Apologize to Uraraka," Deku repeated, like it wasn't the craziest thing in the world that he'd just said.

"I heard you, dipshit," Bakugou snapped. "I just don't know why you're telling me this."

"You know exactly why," Deku countered, sounding completely unafraid. Now Bakugou was certain that he'd fallen into an alternate universe. There was no way in hell that Deku would barge into his room to demand that Bakugou apologize to one of his dumb friends. He'd admittedly said and done a lot worse to them before. So what was the big deal now all of a sudden?

Oh, it was because it was her.

Bakugou scoffed. "I've got nothing to apologize for. She didn't seem to mind it."

Deku didn't rise to that. Of course he didn't. He was too good. Before U.A., Bakugou could shoot Deku a look and the little nerd would shrivel up in a ball out of habit. Years later, those same looks now seemed to fuel Deku even further to fight. It was frustrating. In a way, it pushed Bakugou forward too, but it still got under his skin. The scales were too close for his comfort when they had always tipped in his favor before.

So it was only natural that Bakugou decided to go for a hit under the belt. "What? Are you jealous? Mad that you didn't get to be her first kiss? Embarrassed that you were too afraid?"

At this, Deku turned pink in the face and he angrily opened his mouth to counter – he was so easy to rile up and embarrass sometimes – but then he closed it. His fists did clench at his sides now, but Bakugou could see Deku reeling himself back in and his fists slowly loosened again. "It doesn't matter how I feel." Not quite a yes, but not a no either. Maybe he did feel those things, but he genuinely didn't think they were important. Shit, how could someone be so selfless? It was stupid. "You hurt her feelings."

"Tch." Bakugou turned his head to glare at the window. "Didn't seem like to me. She's been cheery as hell as usual."

And she had been and that was the problem. Normally, Bakugou could kind of tell when she was off – when her cheer was fake – but he couldn't. Every time he thought he'd caught her faking it, she proved him wrong. It was like she was determined to be positive and happy no matter what. He couldn't understand it. She'd sounded so… crushed that morning. Tired and disappointed. Now it was like it had never happened and only he was left dealing with the fallout.

"That's because she's really good at hiding it, you idiot," Deku actually snapped, jerking Bakugou's attention back to him. "You were really mean! And I know you're rude to everyone and we're all used to it now, but you usually don't do it with the intent to hurt. It's just who you are. But you really hurt her and you did it on purpose."

This time, it was Bakugou that was the one that was left speechless for a moment. Uraraka must have told Deku about their talk the other morning. It was clear that she hadn't told anyone else. He was certain that Iida would've blown in acting like an annoying know-it-all or Kirishima would've told him off or Ashido would've started acting extra protective of Uraraka whenever he was around. But she had told Deku, probably because he was the only one to have seen the kiss.

Which meant that no one knew about it but the three of them, tangling them in some mess. What the fuck? How had he gotten himself into this shit?

What made Bakugou even angrier was that Deku was right about him. _Again_. He had said what he'd said with the specific intent to hurt her feelings so that she would leave him alone and never bother him about it. Not because he didn't like her or didn't even want to kiss her again – but because he _did_. Her soft lips and warm skin came to mind again, the memory of them completely unbidden, and he hated it so much. It made him feel weak. It made him feel like he wasn't in complete control. She was in the way of everything he needed to accomplish.

He needed her gone, and so he'd said something that he knew would sent her scurrying away.

Of fucking course he wanted her to come back now. He wanted her to be the one to storm into his room and demand that he apologize to her. He didn't want fucking Deku here. He wanted Uraraka.

"What are you then? Her knight in shining armor?" Bakugou sneered. "She's gonna be a hero. She'll get over it."

"Yeah, she will," Deku said, "because she's strong and kind. She can take hits like the rest of us."

"You don't think I know that?" Bakugou practically exploded.

"She shouldn't have to!" Deku almost shouted, taking Bakugou aback once again. Something had gotten under Deku's skin and lit a fire. He normally wasn't like this unless they were doing hero training. But here he was, trying to save the day, once again. It pissed Bakugou off. "She'll get over it with a smile on her face because she doesn't want to be a burden to anyone. So she'll smile and laugh and brush it off even when she's upset because she won't let herself be the one to hold anyone back. She'll keep on fighting and she'll still be kind to you when you don't deserve it."

Bakugou blinked. He…didn't deserve it? Her kindness? Bakugou had grown up knowing he deserved everything because he was the best. Everyone told him so and he would make it happen, no matter what. It hadn't occurred to him that he might not be deserving of something so insignificant or that kindness was something people deserved.

"This is stupid," Bakugou said out loud without thinking.

Deku sighed. "Look; I know we're never going to be 'friends'. I get that. I accept it. Maybe I should have done something about it before, but we are what we are. We might be able to work together, but at the end of the day, we're competition and that's huge for us." He settled a very focused look on Bakugou. "But that doesn't give you an excuse to drag Uraraka in it. You don't get to use my friends to hurt me. You can go for me with all you've got, but that's crossing a line and you know it."

His hands were getting too hot and sweaty, so he jerked them out of his pockets and folded his arms across his chest. Deku was right. They would never be friends and they never really had been, even before Bakugou's quirk manifested. They were more than rivals though. They were tied together, probably for the rest of their lives whether either one liked it or not, and sometimes that meant being allies and other times it meant enemies. Whatever it was, it was theirs, just like Bakugou's rivalry with Todoriki only involved them.

Like how whatever it was between him and Uraraka was theirs and Bakugou had dragged Deku into that too in his confusion and anger.

"You shouldn't have…" Deku looked at the ground. "You shouldn't have kissed Uraraka just to get to me. It was her first kiss and she wanted it to be special and you took that away from her."

The words hit Bakugou harder than he expected, like a blow to the chest, and he reacted the only way he knew how – with fire and knives. "You mean you just wanted to be the one to give it to her?"

Deku looked up at him sharply. "So what if I did? It doesn't matter. All that matters is what she wanted." He paused, searching Bakugou's angry face, and then asked in an out-of-place soft tone that Bakugou hated, "Kacchan, did you really not? Did you really do it just to be mean?"

That was a response that Deku couldn't pull out of him no matter what. Bakugou just glared back at him, his lips pressed firmly into a scowl. Yes, okay, he'd wanted to kiss Uraraka and it had had nothing to do with Deku. He hadn't wanted to do it in front of everyone and when he'd heard her say that she'd never been kissed before he had wanted to be the one to do it. Maybe he hadn't thought of it being special or anything, but the idea of kissing her in front of a bunch of idiots hadn't been what he'd wanted. It just seemed so cheap, doing it because of a game.

"At the end of the day, I can't tell you want to do," Deku finished, "but I really wish you would apologize to her. She's better than either of us deserve. We're too selfish."

With that, he walked to the door and Bakugou stepped aside, letting him leave without a scathing remark. More than anything, he just wanted Deku out of his room and out of his life, at least for the rest of the time. He slammed the door shut, just in case Deku had any other bits of advice he wanted to give, and then walked straight to his bed, collapsing face first into it.

As much as he loathed to admit that he agreed with anything Deku said, as much as it galled it that the green-haired dope had come in here, as much as it irritated him that knowing Uraraka really was upset made him uncomfortable… He couldn't stand the idea of her just forgiving him like it was nothing. Because then it really would be nothing and it he didn't want it to be. He had said what he'd said to be mean, but that hadn't been why he'd kissed her and he knew it. Maybe Deku did too and he was just too damn nice to presume how Bakugou felt.

 _We're too selfish._

Bakugou didn't know if he could be any other way. If he wanted Uraraka, then he wanted her, but he didn't know where anyone else besides himself could fit in his life. He didn't know how. That wasn't how he worked. That wasn't the way he'd planned his life. Fuck, maybe he was the idiot after all. This was way more stupid and complicated than he'd originally thought.

Oh shit, he was really going to talk to her about this, wasn't he? Not because Deku had told him, but because Bakugou wanted – no he needed to do it. Man, this was some bullshit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:** So this took a life of its own, as a lot of my fics do. Bakugou and Uraraka just kind of did their own thing and it came out pretty good, I think. Thank you everyone for reading!

* * *

Just as Bakugou had suspected, Deku didn't bother him anymore about the whole "apologize to Uraraka" thing. At least not out loud. He would shoot Bakugou looks every now and then in class that weren't quite glares but they weren't nice either. A few of them were questioning, a look of, _Are you going to talk to her?_ in his eyes, but Bakugou ignored it every time. He was going to talk to her, just on his own time, not Deku's.

Wait. That was selfish, wasn't it? Shouldn't he talk to her when it was convenient for her or something?

As much as it pissed him off, Deku's parting words still rang in his head. _We're too selfish._ He had included himself in that statement, acknowledging that he wasn't the perfect guy that everyone seemed to think he was. He wanted to be number one hero too and a goal like that left little room for anyone else. Being number one would always be the number one priority. And as stupid as it sounded to him now when being the best was all he wanted in life, Bakugou could admit that that wouldn't be fair to her or anyone else.

The fact that he was even thinking things like this was a step up. Two weeks ago, the most he would allow himself to think was that Uraraka had come a long way with her quirk and was a strong hero in the making. He didn't mind if she was alone in the room with him while he was studying or training. If they happened to be in the gym at the same time, he didn't glare at her as much. Sometimes, there was even a semblance of a conversation between them. She always started it, but if it was just her, he'd respond.

Ever since that morning, Bakugou hadn't seen her in the gym. He'd barely caught glimpses of her in the cafeteria. The only time he really saw her was in their classes, but she never so much as glanced at him during lessons unless they were working together or against one another. He had a feeling that she was actively _avoiding_ him, which left him feeling strangely bereft, like there was something missing in his life that he hadn't even realized was there until it was gone.

When he stepped into the gym tonight, Bakugou had still expected her to be there. She never missed a Thursday session and it always ended up being the two of them alone until the last fifteen or so minutes when Shoji came. A quiet intensity always hung in the air those first ten minutes when Bakugou arrived shortly after her, the air charged with that desire to _be better_ and also something else. A desire to do more, but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't until she would say something to him that the feeling would fade slightly.

Of course she wasn't here though and he was alone. The hollow feeling in his gut rang of disappointed, a feeling that he wasn't all that familiar with. In response, he spent the entire workout pushing himself so hard that the punching bag eventually caught on fire due to his sweat. He still didn't feel any better. It was so maddening.

Stuck feeling restless whenever his workouts always used to bring him some sort of relief, Bakugou knew that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep at a decent hour. This was messing with his head. The workout that he'd thought would help only made him feel worse. He wiped himself down as best as he could, not even acknowledging that Shoji was in the room, and made his way to the library. That ought to distract him from her.

Or it would have if she hadn't been there.

Bakugou stopped to stare at her, forgetting the door shutting behind him. It was louder than expected, echoing in the quiet, and Uraraka startled, whipping her head up off the book and exclaiming, "I'm awake!" When her eyes landed on him, she blinked a few times and then sunk back in the chair. "Oh, it's just you."

There was something in her voice that almost made him swallow. He didn't know what it was, except that it felt like someone had clenched a hand around his heart. He forced it away as quickly as he came. Weakness likes that was something he couldn't afford to have. She looked back down at the book, her face as blank as it could possibly be with those pink cheeks of hers. One side of her face was noticeably more red than the other from laying on the book, her hair smudged on the same side.

Knowing that he should just leave and also unwilling to do something that sounded too much like running away, Bakugou walked further into the room and unloaded his gym bag and backpack on top of a table a few paces from her. If it made her uncomfortable, she didn't say, but he thought that her shoulders were tense and she was biting her lip as she stared down at the book. Apparently she wasn't to get up and go either because then it would be very obvious that she was doing her best to not be around him.

Plenty of people avoided him for a lot of reasons, but never really because he'd hurt their feelings. It was strange. It ought to have happened before, but even when he'd done whatever he could to grind Deku into the dust when they were in middle school, Deku had never gone out of his way to hide from him.

The first five minutes dragged on in painful silence. Bakugou couldn't concentrate on his studies and he hadn't seen Uraraka turn a page even though she was still staring down at her book. She adamantly refused to look up, even though he kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. Her hands had curled into fists as she rested them on the edges of her book and there was an intense look on her face.

It felt like a competition and whoever broke the silence or left first lost. Why did this have to be so difficult?

 _Uh, probably because you made her cry, you asshole,_ Bakugou couldn't help but think. It wasn't a pleasant thought and had him squirming irritably in his seat.

"Are you alright?" Uraraka abruptly asked.

Bakugou let out a breath that he hadn't even known he was holding, which made him even more irritable. Still, the room felt as if someone had taken a knife and popped the tension. However, when he turned to face her, it was like all that tension went straight into his body and he froze up again. She was looking at him with those big brown eyes of hers, actual concern discernable in them. The urge to yell at her rose up first - _Why the fuck are you looking at me like that when you should be glaring?_ \- followed by the desire to get up and leave as fast as possible without answering.

This shit was way too confusing. Hero work was simpler. At least he know what he wanted there.

"I'm fine," Bakugou ground out, turning back to his book and willing himself not to blow up.

"Oh, okay."

"And even if I wasn't fine," Bakugou continued heatedly, very much failing at not blowing up, "it's got nothing to do with you."

"Okay."

"Because it's not, got it? Everything is fine. I'm fine. You're fine. We're fine. Everyone's fucking fine. I don't need you looking at me with those googly eyes you use on Deku."

Uraraka slammed her book shut. "This has nothing to do with Deku."

Bakugou glared at her. "Then why the hell did he come barging in my room to nag me about you?"

"Because he's a good friend!" Uraraka snapped.

At that, Bakugou barked out a laugh. "He just wants to look good so you'll make out with him."

"Seriously?" Uraraka exclaimed incredulously, ogling him like he had two heads and both of them were offensive to look at. "That's what you're going with?" She stood up and began shoving her books in her backpack. "Whatever. I don't need this. I don't want to involved in whatever issues you have with him."

He wanted to tell her to stop, but she was moving and talking so fast that he couldn't get a word in and he knew that if he interrupted her she would only get angrier. Right now, she looked pissed enough to slap him in the face, active her quirk, and send him flying into space.

Uraraka stopped and looked up at him, a furious look on her face, but there were tears in her eyes. "I wasn't going to tell him what you said, but he heard me crying. Yeah, okay, I cried. Weak, I know, but I don't care. You know what he did? He apologized, Bakugou. He apologized to me - because he let me to get dragged into his rivalry with you and had never meant for me to get hurt. He accepted blame in this when he's completely not at fault. You know why?" She didn't wait for him to ask. "Because he's a good person."

Which implied that Bakugou wasn't. He snarled at her a little. Who cared about that? He was who he was. He'd never had to apologize for it before. He didn't have to be some goody-two-shoe nice guy in order to be the best hero. He had to kick ass and take no prisoners. He had to fight and fight until there was no one left standing in his way. And if that meant not being some mushy "good" person, then so be it.

Still, when the tears began to slip down her cheeks, Uraraka delivered a hard blow that sent Bakugou reeling: "I wish Deku had been my first kiss and not you. You're such an asshole."

And then she was gone again and Bakugou had somehow made things fucking worse because now he was certain that she would have nothing to do with him for the rest of the year. What if she never forgave him? This was so much worse than her forgetting. This was infinitely worse than her facing him with a bright smile, pink cheeks, and a kind touch. He'd made her cry twice in a matter of a week. That had to be a record for making someone cry that wasn't Deku.

Bakugou growled and pounded his fists on the table. "What the fuck!" he shouted before burying his face in his hands and slamming it down on his textbook.

He couldn't do this again. He couldn't just let her go.

He wouldn't be afraid.

Ignoring his belongings, Bakugou shoved away from the table and stormed out of the room. He caught sight of her before she rounded a corner and rushed to follow her, so many thoughts swirling around in his mind. He was so angry and frustrated and tired and he just- He didn't know what he wanted, except not this. He didn't want this. He didn't want her crying over this. It was stupid. He was stupid.

"Oy, Round Face!" Bakugou called after her.

"Go away, Bakugou!" she shouted back, her voice wobbly from trying not to cry.

Bakugou was not going to back down this time. He wasn't going to run and he wasn't going to let her walk away. He wasn't afraid. "Uraraka, wait!"

She halted so abruptly that he almost ran into her, but he caught himself at the last minute. At first, they both just stood in the hallway silently, him staring at her back as she shuddered and got her emotions under control. She took a deep breath and turned to face him. There were still tears in her eyes and her cheeks were pinker than usual, but she wasn't crying at least. She looked like she was trying to wipe him away along with her tears, like she didn't need either of them.

"What?" Uraraka asked flatly.

Bakugou ran his fingers through his hair, tried to figure out something to say, and then just...let it all spill out in an angry mess. "I lied to you, okay? I didn't kiss you to make Deku feel bad. It didn't have anything to do with him. Well, maybe it did, but not because of that. I heard you two talking and I knew he was going to kiss you and I didn't want him to because I was supposed to kiss you and I wanted it to be _me_. But then I saw you the next morning and I felt like a total idiot and lashed out."

The entire time he rambled like an absolute lunatic, Uraraka gawked at him, her mouth parted and her eyes bigger than ever before. She looked dumb - and absurdly cute. It was the worst possible thing in the world. Bakugou couldn't stand it at all; it just made him want to kiss her again. No one had warned him that U.A. would force him to deal with stuff like this.

When he was done, Uraraka gave him an expectant look. "And?"

He furrowed his brow. "And what? That's all I've got to say."

"And you're…?" Uraraka waved a hand at him.

Bakugou groaned. "Alright, alright, _I'm sorry_. But if you tell anyone, especially Deku, that I said that, I'm taking it back."

Uraraka smiled at him and it looked so weird considering that it was obvious she'd been crying just minutes ago, but relief burned inside Bakugou's chest. "No take backs." She was going to make him regret this immediately, wasn't she? Gods, she was difficult. "So...you wanted to kiss me, huh?"

"I thought it was obvious," Bakugou grumbled. "I pretty much said it."

"Yeah and then you said I was just a tool so you could be an ass," Uraraka pointed out.

"I was frustrated," Bakugou told her. "I felt like a fool and a coward and I am not used to feeling like that if you didn't already know that."

That made Uraraka raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

He really didn't want to talk about it, but now they were here, standing in a quiet hallway with no one around and it was just them. Like those little moments in the gym or the common area or sometimes the classroom when they were either the first or last to leave. No Deku around, no entire class watching, just them.

"Because I pretty much ran out on you during that stupid as hell game and then kissed you in front of Deku, who I was pretty certain you have a massive crush on." Bakugou scoffed. "I kept thinking that everyone was going to hear about it and I'd never hear the end of it and it would be…" He didn't want to admit it, but it had to be said. "And then it'd be one more thing that he beat me at."

"Oh," Uraraka replied, "so I'm just a part of your all's dumb 'fate of men' game?"

"No, like he'd be better for you and be able to give you more and make you happier than me," Bakugou countered.

A light of understanding glowed in Uraraka's eyes. He swore, if she mentioned anything about his insecurities, especially how they got mixed up with Deku, he was going to walk away and never return. When she reached out to touch his face, he stiffened. The pads of her fingers were so rough compared to the smoothness of her palms. He found himself leaning into her touch without realizing it.

And then she told him, "You're an idiot."

Bakugou reared away from her and out of her grasp. "Hey!"

But Uraraka just laughed. "And I thought I was an idiot for wanting you to kiss me. Tsu would have called me crazy if I'd admitted it."

"You…" Bakugou blinked down at her. "What?"

This time, when Uraraka's face turned pink, it wasn't from tears and she glanced away from him. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like you ever showed any actual interest in me, but I-"

Bakugou didn't wait for her to finish. Because he was not about wasting anymore time. Because he'd spent the past week thinking about her lips and the way she'd felt under his hands and how he'd wanted _more more more_. Because he was _not_ afraid. Because, at least in this moment, he knew what he wanted. And it was to kiss her.

So that was what he did.

This time, instead of grabbing her arms, Bakugou reached for her face, cupping her cheeks in his hands. They were so round, just as he called her, and still a little wet from her tears. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers again, this time with not so much momentum, but still hard. She let out a brief, surprised squeak, but her hands grasped the front of shirt and she actually pulled him closer to her.

Again, it wasn't the greatest kiss in the world, but then it kind of was. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she opened up her mouth to him and he actually growled. This was the kind of kiss that shouldn't have an audience. It was the one that he'd wanted to give her before had they been alone. He pressed into her body so hard that she had to back up, until he had her pinned against the wall or at least her backpack was, causing her to whimper a little. He kept kissing her repeatedly until he could barely breath and only pulled away when he thought she might be light-headed.

"There," Uraraka panted, her forehead pressed against his, "you got your fucking kiss."

"What the fuck, Uraraka," Bakugou choked out before kissing her fiercely again. "You can't just _say_ shit like that."

His entire body felt like it was on fire and he was going to have to warn her about not standing next to candles any time soon. Maybe he should give her a towel. Oh, wait, all his stuff was back at the library. Right, the library. He pulled away and grabbed her wrist so that he could start tugging on her.

"Wha-? Bakugou, where are we going?" She did sound a bit light-headed.

"The library."

"Why?"

Bakugou shot a grin back at her. "For a little more privacy."

Uraraka's cheeks turned bright red. "Bakugou!"

But she didn't put up much more of a protest and he laughed. The tension that he'd been carrying all week felt nonexistent and in truth he felt lighter than he had in a long time. Sure, he wasn't holding hands with her and it wasn't like he'd asked her to be his girlfriend or whatever. Right now, kissing her was all he had in mind. He had everything else planned in his head - he knew what he needed to do - but living in the moment right now with her seemed like a good idea.

When he pulled her back into the library, she dropped her backpack and he pulled her towards him again, her soft body against his hard one, and he kissed her like he meant it, like he'd wanted to for months, like he wasn't afraid. When she kissed him back just as much, nothing else mattered. He had a girl in his arms that could meet him head on and not back down. That was what he wanted. And for now, whatever she wanted, he'd give her. It would take some time and he had a shit ton of learning to do, but what was he if not a hard worker and quick learner?


End file.
